Why You Need to Worry About Laser Rangefinder Accuracy

The rangefinder might have been a more recent addition to the arsenal of any modern hunter, but it’s an important one. Laser rangefinders essentially ping a laser beam between yourself and an object, measuring the time it takes for the laser to see the surface it hit – and thus using that as a measure for distance.

However, not all rangefinders are created equal.

On your quest for the product with the best laser rangefinder accuracy, you’ll encounter products with less reliability, a little more expense, more cost put into the brand than technical value and a number of other little traps. Now sure, a rangefinder isn’t a camera or a smartphone.

For the most part, it’s an accurate and extremely fast method of telling how far something – usually prey – happens to be. That’s a relatively simple function – but the range of rangefinders out there may boggle your mind. So, let’s tackle rangefinders and find out what makes some more accurate than others, and how best to choose a quality rangefinder without burning a hole in your wallet.

How Rangefinders Work

We’ve already gone over the basics – a laser is emitted inside the rangefinder, sent out through the lens, and once it hits an object, it bounces back into the rangefinder and a high-tech clock inside measures how long the bounce took – and thus how far away the object was.

That’s how it works in a perfect world, but laser rangefinder accuracy is a little different in some circumstances. First and foremost, rangefinders have to precisely fire their laser at the object you’re tracking to give you an accurate reading. That’s hard to do when you’re not sure you’re actually hitting your target, which is where magnification comes in.

Magnification

Magnification is a big deal, especially because you may not notice how much of a difference it can make to know exactly what you’re pointing at. What may look like a clean and accurate reading at 4x magnification may reveal itself to be totally false when you give it another go at 8x magnification – remember to double check readings for inconsistencies on a regular basis anyways.

Beam Divergence

Then, outside of you seeing far enough to know what you’re pointing at – the deer, and not the tree a meter before it or the grass below it – there’s also laser focus strength. Unlike in the movies, real life lasers are concentrated beams of light that diverge into split beams with enough distance. This won’t matter at first, especially among bow hunters – but as your distance and range increases, so does the importance of how strong your laser is.

Other Factors

There are a few other factors to consider – additional features, longevity, battery life, range limitations, aperture size, and the quality of the rangefinder’s abilities (can it ignore fog and brush, for example) – but for the most part, these are the basic differences between different rangefinders.

Sorting Through Your Options

Knowing what you’re looking for and where to look for it are two different things. Accuracy depends on the quality of your rangefinder’s laser, its magnification abilities and its aperture size – but knowing where to look online or otherwise for the best products based on laser rangefinder accuracy might mean looking around for a little bit more than your next hole-in-one or hunting trip.

Make a List

The best thing to start with when getting a rangefinder while focusing on accuracy over flashiness, is a budget. A budget gives you boundaries and limits – it gives you a very basic list of possibilities. Stick to that list, and use it to navigate the world of rangefinders around you.

Check Online Reviews

Once you have a list, it’s time to whittle it down to one or two options. So head online and sort through your various options depending on how they appeal to you, and how they appealed to the people who bought them.

There are dedicated review websites out there where professional hunters and hobbyists alike put time into choosing a rangefinder of their own based on laser rangefinder accuracy and other factors – give these reviews a read, but don’t forget to consider customer reviews at online retailers as well.

The final step is to find a reputable retailer for your rangefinder. Most review sites give you buying options if they find a product good enough – otherwise, retailers like Amazon have buyer’s protection to make it easier for you to trust a purchase.

Buying a brand new rangefinder may not be affordable or worth it for some.

From time to time, the need for buying a new one could be the most practical option. Especially if you’re particular with brand and quality, and your last one broke probably on the last minute and you need a new one A-S-A-P.

You’re not ready for a new high-end rangefinder yet, but you can’t settle for an inferior one.

Assess your needs

The first step is, assess your needs carefully. This may common-sense for some, but sometimes this is what people miss the most. Don’t jump into brands and specs, it’s always important to know your priorities and needs to make the best decision in finding a used rangefinder. Here are some guide questions:

What are you going to use it for? Is it for hunting, golf, or field work?

What’s your priority? Will it be longer distance or a wider scope?

Do you have other needs, like having a weather proof rangefinder, night vision, or other features?

Check used rangefinders available

It could be within your friends’ circle or on most online stores and websites.

Look for available rangefinder models and narrow your search by picking few that you think would suit your taste based on the previous assessment that you’ve made.

Make sure to check with the owner too on how much time it was used, so you would know on what you’re about to deal with. Using the mechanisms and lenses often for a long time would degrade the rangefinder’s quality in some way.

Do a thorough check the model and its specifications

Once you’ve narrowed your search, you may now check the brand and model and its specifications online.

Do a thorough research on the model’s features, and find out what else it could offer aside from the ones that you need.

By knowing the full package it comes with, you may know if the price is worth it, or if it comes with too many features that you may not necessarily need.

You may also know if it can cover your desired distance, and if the lens could be at par with your requirements.

Test the unit itself

After checking the specifications, your search will further be narrowed based on the rangefinder’s practicality and efficiency.

This time, you may contact the owner and see the unit for yourself. This is when you can test if the unit indeed delivers its claims for distance covered, if it flashes results as fast as you want it too, and if the look and especially, the feel of the rangefinder suits your liking.

Assess need for revamping

Whether you’ve decided on a unit that you want or you’re still dealing with choices, the last step involves how much overhauling the rangefinder needs to be at par with your standards.

Some units could be really practical, and you may just need to buy some new parts which may still be lower than the price of a new one.

However, a rangefinder that doesn’t need further revamping would be best, especially for convenience.

Technology has been developing fast recently, and it has helped a lot in making our lived more convenient. One of which are laser rangefinders, a tool for determining distance from one point to another, mostly used for hobbies like hunting, golf, and other outdoor activities.

But how is it made? One may ask simply out of curiosity, or maybe out of wondering on how accurate a rangefinder could be. Knowing how each rangefinder is made is also good for knowing how to buy what fits a purchaser’s needs.

I will describe here the general process of how rangefinders are made, as most are not created for specific purposes, but I’d like to cover all kinds as much as I could.

The designing process

Before going to the specifics, the developer first has to plan the design depending on the target market and purpose for the rangefinder.

The Market

Although most rangefinders’ functions are interchangeable, some are conveniently made for golfers, while others are more conveniently crafted for hunters and outdoor surveyors. The difference of which lies between how the rangefinder finds the target. Rangefinders for golfers spot target based on first priority, while the ones for hunters and surveyors use second priority.

It would also rely if the market is high-end, mid-range, or value.

The Exteriors

The designing of Nikon Rangefinder

Based on the said use, and target budget, one may plan on how durable and light the exteriors could be. Will it be made out of plastic? Should it be waterproof? How light should it be? The size and shape would also matter for ergonomic reasons. The texture also contributes to how good the grip could be. Color would also matter for some.

The Specifics

This is what would take the longest time, and what needs to be planned out well. Firstly, what measurements could be programmed into the rangefinder to make rangefinding a more convenient experience? Will it be good to use with slope, and could it measure projectiles? Rangefinders use the speed of light to compute for distances, any bending, elevation or the lack thereof should be put to consideration to generate more accurate measurements.

Next, would be the lens. Lens size matters, as larger lens would be able to emit and receive more light, which would also depend on the aperture inside. The quality of the lens could also be put into consideration, and would it be weatherproof?

Other specifics like the mirror dynamics inside the rangefinder and the quality of the glass on the viewfinder are also chosen carefully.

Extras

After knowing all these, once the developer finalizes the basic components inside, a good developer could think of an edge for the product. Something that could make it special compared to others. One example would be very trivial options, like changing font size for elder people’s use, or switching modes depending on the weather.

Once all the functions and components are decided, the developer will now go back to the exteriors and design the shape of the rangefinder, depending on how he plans to arrange the components inside.

After all these, the developer may contact a trusted manufacturer locally or internationally to assemble the parts according to plan and produce a target volume.

We all have that spur of the moment buy, and as they say, haste makes waste. Sometimes, our investments turn out to be a waste of money if we make a wrong move in the planning process, or the lack thereof.

This is common in gadgets. Big and small brands have different marketing strategies to maximize profit and sell more units. Like any other commodity we buy, careful consideration must be given before buying a good rangefinder that perfectly matches the buyer’s needs and wants.

We all want that wise buy, thus, here are four common mistakes that must be avoided when buying a rangefinder:

Relying on price as a deciding factor

Price is usually one of the biggest deciding factors that a consumer considers. There would always be a budget, but the objectives in buying a rangefinder should always be put into perspective. For what purpose are you buying this rangefinder? More often than not, models and brands are more expensive for a reason, and a wise consumer must know why exactly they’re priced that way. Some rangefinders are cheap simply because they are made of cheap materials, but honestly, that wouldn’t be a problem if you’re on a budget, performance of the rangefinder is good, and you’re an extremely able person in taking care of your belongings. Some are more economical simply because they’re produced by a new company. It’s important to see how they perform based on previous buyers’ reviews and first impressions.

Relying on brand as a deciding factor

Brands are good. Big brand names are established to carry the brand name’s commitment to service. There are trustworthy, high-end rangefinders for the well-off market, but we must always be on the lookout for innovative new brands that introduce good technology and physical attributes while being backed with a really good price. Wouldn’t it be nice to get that dream rangefinder for a lower price?

Relying on features as a deciding factor

Different rangefinders have different features. There is no ultimate rangefinder that would fit all needs. Some may be able to do more, but are designed to perform better for specific tasks. They have different shapes, lenses, range capacity, zooming capacity and more! Some rangefinders could provide a good view with or without eyeglasses, others could integrate measurements and come up with integrated data for a more convenient measuring experience, but would you need all of this? Each feature comes with a special modification that in one way or another, is equivalent to a price.

Ignoring reviews online

Experience is the best teacher, they say, but one can’t “experience” all rangefinders and choose one in the end. That defeats the purpose of being economical. We all learn from others’ mistakes and success. See reviews online and especially consider consistent comments mentioned on a rangefinder.

Decision-making is a complex process, but once done, it minimizes regret and the need of buying another rangefinder. Choose one well before buying, and test it again once you see it on the store. Let us all buy wisely and help others do the same. Wise buyers support high quality, low-priced products, which is what everyone deserves. Let’s buy wisely, and hopefully there would be much better rangefinders in the future!

Get to know your rangefinders well

Rangefinders may serve a wide range of purposes. Thus, the people who use it come from different backgrounds. They may be used for:

Golfing

Hunting

​Mapping

Construction

and so much more. Rangefinders play an important part in their owners’ work and leisure. What happens when they fail to work properly or stop working altogether? To maximize the use of rangefinders and avoid unnecessary time and money waster on repair service, a rangefinder’s owner must know its basic parts, common problems and basic troubleshooting.

Getting acquainted with one’s rangefinder basic parts not only is a big plus for checking where exactly the problem could be, but is also useful in maintaining the quality of this equipment. Here are some of common problems that are encountered by rangefinder owners:

Common problems

Know that as much as possible, a broken rangefinder is best brought to its manufacturer’s service center. However, most problems are just caused by the owner’s unfamiliarity to the rangefinder itself, or the rangefinder model. In any case, check the common problems below and “first-aid” measures that you can do to detect or even solve the problem.

Blank dipslay

Most blank displays are caused by a change in mode on the rangefinder. Usually, you could check by simply changing the rangefinder’s mode through the mode button. However, if this doesn’t work, thoroughly check the user’s manual for various mode options and transition from one to other.

In some cases, a lose connection may be existing within the device. In this case, it is best to take the device to the manufacturer’s service center. However, if you are knowledgeable in designand you have the right equipment, you may open the device, spot the loose or broken connection, and fix it by yourself.

Difficulty in focusing on target

Difficulty in focusing on targets may often result in faulty readings and a less efficient rangefinder. This could be rooted to a blurry focus lens or laser output, so it’s really important to keep the device’s exteriors clean and spotless.

This may also be caused by weak batteries, so the batteries may easily be replaced by opening the battery cap to retrieve the old batteries from the battery chamber.

Faulty or no reading

This may be tricky. This may be a simple manifestation of a change in mode that clears all readings, texts, and lines on the screen or what may be commonly known as “clear screen mode”. Check the user manual for instructions on how to change mode, or simply try to press the mode button. This may also be a result of blurry exteriors.

If you have tried to fix, but that does not bring results, perhaps your rangefinder was broken badly. So the best advice here to avoid losing too much of your time that is:

Take a walk one round in the list the best rangefinders on Amazon.com in 2016 and chose a better quality product

Water penetration

Being mainly used for outdoors, some rangefinders are waterproof. However, if a non-waterproof rangefinder is exposed to and penetrated by water, do not suddenly turn on. If possible, blow-dry and put overnight or for a few hours on a container with dry rice grains. Rice grains are known to be good in absorbing moisture, especially for gadgets.

Although it's crucial to maintain and reserve a fangefinder in good condition, sometimes you can't avoid problems with a rangefinder. If it happened that your rangefinders din'd function like it should do, these useful advices could help you fix them on your own without spending too much time and resources."

Bill Smith Fardevice Admin

The best fix for any gadget problem is still keeping it at its best condition. Always make sure that it’s thoroughly cleaned and change the batteries after some time.

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